Sports Minister Kofi Iddie Adams says former minister Mustapha Ussif cannot clear himself of the All African Games audit findings through a public denial, urging him to use lawful channels.
Speaking on TV3’s Hot Issues on Sunday, Adams argued that a media statement only signals that someone is contesting an audit report and does not settle the matter. He said established legal procedures exist for anyone named in the Auditor-General’s report to challenge findings they consider inaccurate.
“You cannot contest the report by just a mere media statement,” Adams said.
The minister stressed that officials at the centre of an audit should respond within the prescribed period rather than wait for Parliament to debate the report. He warned that relying on denials alone would offer little protection if the matter later reached court, and advised Ussif to move quickly through the available legal and administrative steps to clear his name if he believed he had been wrongly implicated.
The comments follow rising public debate over the Auditor-General’s report on Ghana’s hosting of the 13th African Games in Accra. The report flagged financial irregularities amounting to GHS 580,042,347.40, citing inflated costs, irregular payments and unapproved contract variations across the event.
Former Minister for Youth and Sports Mustapha Ussif, former Chief Director William Kartey and former Local Organising Committee (LOC) Chairman Dr Kwaku Ofosu-Asare are repeatedly cited in the report, with recommendations for sanctions and recovery of funds under Section 92 of the Public Procurement Act. The Auditor-General did not establish any criminal liability.
Ussif has firmly denied the allegations and rejected responsibility for the flagged irregularities. The former minister has said he looks forward to Parliament’s review of the report to clear his name.
